8 ms·

I once got to see Jack Welch give a talk and he basically said the same, but about American labor unions. He said if you want job security, the answer is "cust

I once got to see Jack Welch give a talk and he basically said the same, but about American labor unions. He said if you want job security, the answer is "customers". There is no other shortcut in business.

whalesalad 14y ago
It's what every great organization I have ever been a part of has been about. My current gig, we put the customer first 24x7 and go out of the way to ensure they're comfortable. We're currently one of INC's fastest growing companies two years in a row and hiring new employees daily to meet demand. I just spent 20 minutes writing an email with detailed screenshots of how to add a menu item to a CMS. I can't stand the CMS that this client uses. We inherited it and it blows. They're an awesome client though, nice people, and above else, they're my customer. I have no problem going out of my way to ensure that they've got detailed and easy-to-understand instructions. A startup that some friends and I started a few years ago: schoolrack.com. Our users were teachers from elementary to high-school. You can imagine we dealt with TONS fo technical support requests from both confused parents and teachers. A lot of teachers are still forced to use IE6. Patience and always putting the customer first is what made us successful. Our users adored us. We'd start at a school and overnight every teacher there would be using us. Our users always had nice things to say about us because we always put them first. When I worked in Apple retail, they reinforced the same principles. Understand the customer. Put yourself in their shoes. Frame your questions so that they are not misconstrued. Make technology friendly. Know your customer. If they're coming to you wanting Final Cut and a few Mac Pro's, don't try and offer them lessons on how to use a word processor (exaggeration). Of course not every Apple employee is a saint, and sometimes you have a bad experience. We're humans, after all. But the principles work. Bend over backwards for your customer. Treat every single person you interact with on a day-to-day basis with respect and kindness. Even the UPS who comes to pick up your deliveries.
kenko 14y ago
??? Customers won't give you, hapless employee, job security if your employers can easily replace you with someone cheaper because you have a flimsy (or no!) contract, nor will customers help you with disputes with management, or wrongful termination, or promotion from within, or even the too-little-emphasized increased potential for synergy between the ranks that unions afford, or any of the many other things that unions afford. Customers might help prevent a company going out of business, and that, to be sure, is good for job security. But a company that's flourishing customerwise can still have rapacious or simply bad management.
- gxs 14y ago
  Having customers is a necessary, but not sufficient condition.
- saraid216 14y ago
  I don't understand why you're being downvoted. I don't know what Welch said, but as it was characterized by the grandparent, Welch's statement is stupid, for exactly the reasons kenko explained.
- briandear 14y ago
  You shouldn't need a contract if you're adding value to the organization. If you can get replaced by someone cheaper, then you weren't worth what you were getting. Why the heck should a business pay more for the same outputs? If you're adding more value than you cost, your job is always safe. The union mentality is exactly the reason American manufacturing has left for cheaper pastures. Union employees aren't about adding value, they're about protecting their own ass rather that striving to find ways to add value to the organization. Business owners do not have an obligation to keep everyone employed, they have an obligation to make a profit, if there's no profit, then they won't be able to employ anyone for very long. Good employees are an asset to any company. You don't get "wrongfully" terminated if you are adding value of a company. I will never hire union labor ever. I would close down a business before I submitted to the extortion of unions. If I hire people, I treat them really well because they add value not because a contract says I must. Google employees aren't unionized -- Google understands that to attract the best talent you have to treat people well. Google employees don't need a union -- they know that if they're providing value, their jobs are very secure. It's the lower-skilled workers with chips on their shoulders that are the first to cry about needing a contract to "protect" their rights. Contracts protect the employees that strive to do the minimal possible under the terms of the contract. Unions have made employees interchangeable because you get paid based on your job title and seniority, not necessarily the value you bring to the organization. The big tragedy is that in union shops, when layoffs happen it's the junior guys that go first, even if they're better workers than the more senior. It's disgusting that years on the job mean more than actual job output. Unions had their place before OSHA came along, but now they are corrupt labor monopolies where the bosses get paid millions each year cronyism and corruption are the norm. If you don't like a company, you're free to quit, but in closed-shop states, if you don't like the union, too bad, you have to be a member (or pay the dues) if you want to be employed in that field in your state. Detroit is 1993 Sarajevo because of unions, while North Carolina is doing pretty well. The difference is the unions.

whalesalad 14y ago

It's what every great organization I have ever been a part of has been about. My current gig, we put the customer first 24x7 and go out of the way to ensure they're comfortable. We're currently one of INC's fastest growing companies two years in a row and hiring new employees daily to meet demand. I just spent 20 minutes writing an email with detailed screenshots of how to add a menu item to a CMS. I can't stand the CMS that this client uses. We inherited it and it blows. They're an awesome client though, nice people, and above else, they're my customer. I have no problem going out of my way to ensure that they've got detailed and easy-to-understand instructions. A startup that some friends and I started a few years ago: schoolrack.com. Our users were teachers from elementary to high-school. You can imagine we dealt with TONS fo technical support requests from both confused parents and teachers. A lot of teachers are still forced to use IE6. Patience and always putting the customer first is what made us successful. Our users adored us. We'd start at a school and overnight every teacher there would be using us. Our users always had nice things to say about us because we always put them first. When I worked in Apple retail, they reinforced the same principles. Understand the customer. Put yourself in their shoes. Frame your questions so that they are not misconstrued. Make technology friendly. Know your customer. If they're coming to you wanting Final Cut and a few Mac Pro's, don't try and offer them lessons on how to use a word processor (exaggeration). Of course not every Apple employee is a saint, and sometimes you have a bad experience. We're humans, after all. But the principles work. Bend over backwards for your customer. Treat every single person you interact with on a day-to-day basis with respect and kindness. Even the UPS who comes to pick up your deliveries.

kenko 14y ago

??? Customers won't give you, hapless employee, job security if your employers can easily replace you with someone cheaper because you have a flimsy (or no!) contract, nor will customers help you with disputes with management, or wrongful termination, or promotion from within, or even the too-little-emphasized increased potential for synergy between the ranks that unions afford, or any of the many other things that unions afford. Customers might help prevent a company going out of business, and that, to be sure, is good for job security. But a company that's flourishing customerwise can still have rapacious or simply bad management.

gxs 14y ago
Having customers is a necessary, but not sufficient condition.
saraid216 14y ago
I don't understand why you're being downvoted. I don't know what Welch said, but as it was characterized by the grandparent, Welch's statement is stupid, for exactly the reasons kenko explained.
briandear 14y ago
You shouldn't need a contract if you're adding value to the organization. If you can get replaced by someone cheaper, then you weren't worth what you were getting. Why the heck should a business pay more for the same outputs? If you're adding more value than you cost, your job is always safe. The union mentality is exactly the reason American manufacturing has left for cheaper pastures. Union employees aren't about adding value, they're about protecting their own ass rather that striving to find ways to add value to the organization. Business owners do not have an obligation to keep everyone employed, they have an obligation to make a profit, if there's no profit, then they won't be able to employ anyone for very long. Good employees are an asset to any company. You don't get "wrongfully" terminated if you are adding value of a company. I will never hire union labor ever. I would close down a business before I submitted to the extortion of unions. If I hire people, I treat them really well because they add value not because a contract says I must. Google employees aren't unionized -- Google understands that to attract the best talent you have to treat people well. Google employees don't need a union -- they know that if they're providing value, their jobs are very secure. It's the lower-skilled workers with chips on their shoulders that are the first to cry about needing a contract to "protect" their rights. Contracts protect the employees that strive to do the minimal possible under the terms of the contract. Unions have made employees interchangeable because you get paid based on your job title and seniority, not necessarily the value you bring to the organization. The big tragedy is that in union shops, when layoffs happen it's the junior guys that go first, even if they're better workers than the more senior. It's disgusting that years on the job mean more than actual job output. Unions had their place before OSHA came along, but now they are corrupt labor monopolies where the bosses get paid millions each year cronyism and corruption are the norm. If you don't like a company, you're free to quit, but in closed-shop states, if you don't like the union, too bad, you have to be a member (or pay the dues) if you want to be employed in that field in your state. Detroit is 1993 Sarajevo because of unions, while North Carolina is doing pretty well. The difference is the unions.